Hydrogen Specialist Company Hanaunit to Invest 14.2 Billion KRW in Building Factory in Pohang

16,437㎡ Near Planned Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cluster Site, Worth 14.2 Billion Won

Mayor Lee: "Full Effort to Attract Hydrogen Specialized Complex, Building a Sustainable Hydrogen Industry Ecosystem"

On the 14th, the city of Pohang signed a memorandum of understanding for investment with 'Hana Unit', a hydrogen-specialized company that manufactures high-pressure gas transport pipelines and charging station equipment.

On the 14th, Lee Gangdeok, Mayor of Pohang, and Kim Youngguk, CEO of Hana Unit (third from the left), are posing for a commemorative photo after signing a memorandum of understanding for investment.

Through this agreement, Hana Unit plans to invest 14.2 billion KRW in a 16,437-square-meter site near the planned hydrogen fuel cell cluster in Pohang Blue Valley National Industrial Complex to build a manufacturing plant for high-pressure hydrogen transport trailers and manifolds, creating 16 new jobs.

Headquartered in Gangseo-gu, Busan, Hana Unit is a company specializing in high-pressure pipelines and hydrogen charging station equipment. In line with the expansion of the domestic hydrogen industry, it has participated in the construction of eight gaseous hydrogen charging stations, five liquefied hydrogen charging stations, and one hydrogen production base.

Based on its extensive construction experience with high-pressure pipelines for hydrogen charging stations, Hana Unit was also designated as a hydrogen-specialized company (in the field of hydrogen charging station pipelines and panels) by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy in February.

The main product of the new Hana Unit Pohang plant will be high-pressure hydrogen transport tube trailers. As the global hydrogen charging station market grows by nearly 26% annually, the transport vehicle market is expected to reach 1 billion USD per year by 2030, with the composite material container trailer market alone projected to reach about 500 million USD.

With this investment, Hana Unit plans to establish hydrogen trailer and carrier manufacturing facilities in Pohang, make a full-scale entry into the domestic market, and expand into Europe and the United States. By 2030, the company aims to achieve annual sales of 10 billion KRW, secure a 30% share of the domestic market, a 5% share of the global finished trailer market, and a 10% share of the carrier market.

Additionally, starting this year, Hana Unit has entered into a business agreement with Plantec, an affiliate of POSCO, to develop heat exchangers for liquefied hydrogen PRG (Production-Refueling-Generation) systems. If mass production is successful, assembly and production will take place at the Pohang plant.

The city sees the importance of hydrogen-related infrastructure companies as very significant for the transition to a stable and sustainable hydrogen industry ecosystem. The investment by Hana Unit is expected to diversify Pohang's hydrogen industry ecosystem and have a positive ripple effect on the development of the hydrogen industry.

Kim Youngguk, CEO of Hana Unit, said, "We are very pleased to be able to conduct business in Pohang, a city specialized in the hydrogen industry," and added, "Based on our company's technology and know-how, we will expand our business in Pohang beyond design and manufacturing to include testing, analysis, and evaluation, and grow into a specialized hydrogen infrastructure company."

Mayor Lee Kangdeok said, "We welcome the investment of hydrogen-specialized company Hana Unit in Pohang," and continued, "As local hydrogen component and material companies become the pillars of Pohang and lead a new era for the region, we will do our utmost to foster the hydrogen industry ecosystem, including attracting the currently promoted hydrogen-specialized complex, so that Korea's hydrogen industry can take the lead."